Racket.



JOSEPH J'. CURLEY, OF NEW YORK, N.

RACKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

Application tiled August 22,v 1912. Serial No. 716,448.

1'0 ail 'whom it may concern: i

Be it .known that I, JOSEPH J. CURLEY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the citv, county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Rackets, .of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in rackets, and the main object ofthe invention is to provide a well balanced, light racket of amplestrength, with a handle having the proper degree of rigidit andfirmness.

Most raekets are made by iiending a piece of ash, or other suitablewood, into a loop ot' proper form for receiving the Strings, the loopedpiece of wood at the bottom of the frame so Jformed being drawn togetherand spaced apart .by and secured to a suitable yoke piece forming a partot' the lower end ofthe frame. The loose ends 0f the looped piece extenddown from the yoke and form a part of the handleof the racket, thehandle being usually built up on these pieces by securing strips of caneor other suitable material to the itat surfaces thereof/for the purposeof forming a gripping surface and giving strength to the handle.

In order that the rackets should have the desired tinish and be as freeas possible from warping, and ot' suliieient strength; hard, heavy woodis employed in the construction of the racket which makes the racketheavier than desired by most tennis players, and due to the shape andconstruction of rackets the handle is usuall)7 heavier than it shouldbe, to give the proper balance to the racket. The handle is usiially soheavy that it throws out the desiredbalance of the racket which is oneof, if not the, most desirable feature of rackets; Likewise these hardwood handles are usually so rigid that any shock upon thek strings orframe of the racket results in breaking the strings or in breaking theneck oi the racket just below the base otl the frame, which is usuallythe weakest point in the racket. In order to obviate some of thesel'ditiiculties it has been proposed to slot out the handle for a shortlength along the gripping surface in order to remove a part of the heavyWood and thus lighten the racket and to some extent eil'ect a bet-terbalance The ditliculty found in simply slottinof the handle of theracket and leaving the stlot open is that the slot can not be extended asufficient length along the handle to reduce the weight to the desiredpoint because of the fact that the slot if extended Well up through thehandle near the neck of the racket, would so weaken the handle as torender it liable to be readily broken. Another difficulty which would beexperienced if it were attempted to extend the slot along the handle forfurther lightening it would be that thehandle as a whole would havetoomuch spring, and again, the slotted handle would be so compressibleas to yield to an undesired extent when the handle is tight-ly grippedby the player, which might throw out the calculation of the player instriking the ball, whereas if the slot. be only limited to the shortlength to which it is practicable to extend it if left open, no springis provided at or near the neck of the racket, where some slight springin the handle is desirable.

By'means of my invention the weight of the racket may be reduced to thedesired extent, that the racket may be readily balanced, and the propel'degree of spring given to the handle, and a better gripping surfaceprovided, all without unduly weakening the handle or rendering it toocompressible.

In carrying out my invention I slot the handlel along its length andplace cork or other suitable material within the slot., as will be morefully set forth and explained in the following description taken inconnection with the accompanyingdrawings formingr a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of ay tennisracket embodying one form of my invenf tion; Fig. 2 is a section throughthe handle, taken on line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a. transverse sectionof the handle, taken on the line B-B of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a. similarsection taken on the line CC of Fig. Q; and Fig. 'is a section similarto Fig. 3, but illustrating a modified form of handle.

Referring to the drawings, the racket consists of a. frame'portion 1,formed by looping a suitable piece of' wood 8, as forinstance ash, thefree ends 3 ofwhich are drawn together to form the neck ot' the racket9, and properly spaced apart by and .secured toA a suitable yoke piece 6forming the base of the frame for receiving the strings 11.

form a part of the handle 2, these pieces bemg suitably held together byany usual The free ends of the looped Jpiece 8 extend down from the yoke6 to methodsand'on the fiat surfaces of these pieces are securedsuitably formed pieces of ane or other suitable material 12, for giv.ing a better gripping surfaceqv The handle .is then bored outlongitudinally, as shownf at 13 (Fig. 2), Well up throughfthe grippingportion of the handlel` and a suitable, butt lor eappiece 14 is thenysecured at the" butt of the handle.

iol

In the preferred forni of Iny invention the handle is'slotted out from apoint 5. near the butt thereof upward to the desired point for givingthe proper reduction in weight fand desired balance tothe handle, and inmost rackets it will be found that these ob- -jects are obtainedby'extending the slot ap- V proximaately'to theneek of the racket. Thefarther upward the slot is extended with safety toward the bas'eof theframe, the bet- 'ter Willvbe the resulting spring. in' the handie. `vInorder to prevent undueeoinpression o'fthe handle When the same isgrippedby thefpl'ayer, and to enable the'slot to be extended' vJell up towardthe throat ofthe 'racket so as to get the desired Weight', bal'- ane'eand spring, Without unduly iweakening the racket, and-togive .a goodgripping surface'to the handle', I iit eorlr?, or others suitableflightmaterial, Withinthe slot. This ycork is Iso light that itaddspraetieally no lnveight to the 'slot and handle .and yet it servesthe purpose of preventing any ap- ;spreei'able compression of the handleandreffd'ii'ees the .excessive spring of the handle,

which would otherwise'result when the han j' y dle is slotted Well uptoward the throat, and

lcork, renders the handle slightly lighter, and

retains the other advantages heretofore set forth.'- This e'orkv surfaceextending along y the gripping portion' ofthe handle results in7 abetter gripping surface.

In 'the preferred form' of the invention .the upper end of the slot is Vshaped, as

shown at l0 in Fig. 2, that is, the end of tho slot flaresiipwardlyandou'twardly from an finished 0E straightjaeross. While have describedapex, so as to'provide shoulders to which the cork -:may beheldjiirposition, andbesides this it' gives lgreater strength to theneeir ofV the racketl than 'vi/'OuldL result if thev Islot wereinyinvention in a detail in connection with eert-ain well knownconstruction of raekets, it will be obvious to those skilled in the artthat iny invention is not limited to any specific construction of`racket towhich the invention may" be ap.-

plied,.and I donot wish to be understood as limiting the invention otherthan as indi-` cated in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim asnewf and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is: A f

1. A racket having yahandlelwith a. slot extendinglongitudinallyfthereof from the butt of the handle substantiallythroughout the gripping portion of the handleso as to lightenand balancethe racket, and cork itting in said slot and exposed along the edgesthereof to prevent compressionbf thehandle in gripping the saine, andtopi-Ovide better gripping surface. y

f2. A racket having a handle with a slo-t extending longitudinallythereof substan tially to the throat ofthe racket to lighten and readilybalance the racket, and cork fit-` ting in said slot tostrengthen thehandle and prevent undue spring and compression therein.

3. A raelrethaving a Ybored out ihandle with a slot extendinglongitudinally thereof and transversely therethrough from .the buttsubstantially throughout the gripping p'ort-ion of the handle to lightenthe saine, and

strips of cork fitting the edges of the.` slot and exposed'theieat tostifffen the handle and provide a goed gripping surface.

4. A raokethaving a bored out handle a' with a slot extendinglongitudinally :thereof andsubstantially throughout vthe length of thehandle to the throat ofthe iaeket and transversely tl'irough thehandle,' and cork strips fittingalong the edges of the slot to stiftenthe-handle.

5. A racket having ahandle with a slot extending longitudinally.thereoffreni the `butt substantially to the throat of theraeket andtransversely theiethiroughM the `upper end'of said slot being V,shape d,and cork fitting in said slot to'stiffen the handle, and engagingthesloping surfaces o-f the upper. end of the slot so as to be ,heldinposition.;

In testimony WhereofpI hai/'e signed In v 1r yine lto thisspecification, in the presence of y --Jositrii J. Connex;

W'itnesses':l i* v I A 17'" I FnA'NoIsIJ. Gunmen,

" EDWIN Susan.

